"This will be a laid back hard rock album", said M. Shadows. There's still the ridiculous Avenged Sevenfold sound, this time not mixed with Metalcore, but with some sort of mix between Hard Rock and Thrash Metal. Lazy songwriting plus laughable lyrics, in addiction to Metallica, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath rip-offs and to boring song lengths equals the most ridiculous, annoying, worst album in Avenged Sevenfold's entire career, as well as one of the year's worst releases.

Through advocating monarchist ideals, Avenged Sevenfold seem to be stepping back towards their roots. However, in doing so they neglect the sophistication that defined City of Evil and Waking the Fallen and craft a stripped-down record that sounds as unpolished as varnish with no wood on it. Album highlight Bone Cleaver displays these weaknesses but overcomes them through a heartmeltingly gorgeous vocal contribution from guest star Steven Wilson. Album of the year it is not, but Hail to the King is likely to stay in one's mind for a while

This is exactly the direction I was hoping they wouldn't go in. Avenged Sevenfold is a talented band, but with their past couple of albums, that was really the only good thing. But with Hail to the King, they dumb down everything and make a pretty boring album that is only kind of held together by some alright guitar solos. Also, people are saying that they're going back to their roots and that isn't true in the least bit. Their first 3 albums were very good albums and this is just a mash-up of Metallica and Iron Maiden that is extremely generic and doesn't work well. The positive is the album ends okay. Listening to this just left a bad taste in my mouth thinking about what Avenged Sevenfold used to be like.

Avenged Sevenfold further alienate their fanbase by releasing an inoffensive, but shamelessly unoriginal rip-off of classic heavy metal bands like Sabbath, Maiden, and Metallica. Granted they've always done that to some degree, but they've gone all the way on here. Hail... stands as being largely void of substance or inspiration, so much that it boggles the mind. Arin Ilejay's talent with the sticks is squandered for a disappointingly bland and monotonous drumming performance throughout. On the other hand, there's nothing really to hate about the music itself, other than the stagnation and unoriginality. The singing is the least annoying of any of their albums, and the guitarwork is certainly competent and at times interesting. Heretic and Coming Home are the most worthwhile tracks.

I deem the album,Hail to the King as a classic! I agree & dis agree with these other
reviews,mostly dis agree.I appreciate the honest opinions but in contrast,I'll give mine.One
first must realize the fact that the Rev is gone & what he brought to the band can't be
replaced & that the band isn't trying to replace him either.So there's no need to critique
every song of every album from here on out based on comparison to the Rev's drumming or
songwriting.The guys are holding their own just fine!

So... I've listened to the entire album probably 10 times & a few
selected songs about 20 times a piece already & I can say in my honest opinion that this is
going down as a classic A7X album.The songs are very well written & cleverly produced.The
vocals are great & everyone brought their best efforts forth.My favorite tunes so far
are,Requiem,Heretic & Hail to the King.I hear bits & pieces of their past tunes embedded in
their new songs which is very clever! I also hear the old school metal influences like
metalica,ACDC,Iron Maiden,GNR & Sabbath with this album.They were going for the old school
metal sound with fat riffs & got it.They are evolving & maturing at their craft.I could get
really detailed in this review,but it would require more time than I have.Advice,Buy this
Album! I'm looking forward to my 3rd A7X show.

I can safely say, without hyperbole, that Hail to the King embodies almost everything I hate in music. Sure, there's no autotune (that I can decipher), but that's because they didn't have autotune in 1987. See, Hail to the King is some shitty attempt at being "retro" and "going back to the roots." Avenged Sevenfold's bassist Johnny Christ said in an interview about this record: "It's just the next progression." Guess what? If the band's idea of "progression" is going back twenty-six years, then count me out. Hail to the King is one of the laziest, most irrelevant records of the year. I don't care what Johnny Christ says- you can't rip off Guns N' Roses, Metallica, or [insert 80's metal band here] and try and pass it off as a 'progression.' Progression is moving forwards, not backwards. Hail to the fucking king. 1.5

Even if you're not a fan of the Deathbat-worshipping macho men, Hail to the King is still a bona fide disappointment. The band wanted to go in a more simplistic, groove-oriented direction with this record, though what we all got was a shameless lack of creative focus and tepid songwriting. Arin Ilejay had some pretty fucking big shoes to fill due to The Rev's passing some time ago, and the rest of Avenged Sevenfold themselves are merely playing it safe. It's one thing to form a group and become inspired by various classic rock and metal bands - and hey, you can honestly say the same about a buttload of other modern groups - though it's very sad when you release new material and it *literally* sounds like those acts who influenced A7X.

I was bang in to Avenged Sevenfold when this album came out, so I was pretty tanked to get my hands on it and listen.rTurns out it's a total piece of crap, and clearly a record label contract driven affair. The quality of lyric makes me cringe, and not a single track has a catchy riff or hook in it, bar the title track. Disappointingly, it then leads you to question the rest of their albums, so they start to lose weight as well. Shame.

2013 was the year of surprises. First Bring Me The Horizon, now Avenged Sevenfold. I was not impressed with their lead single, but after listening to this album, I really enjoyed how they went for an old school heavy metal feel, almost similar to bands like Black Album Era Metallica and Judas Priest. Many, particularly on this site, will disagree, but I thought this was a fun release and one that I really enjoyed.

Some lackluster songs, as a whole a good album. Accomplished what they aimed for, drums suited the songs, solos were not boring, each suited the song and showed technicality. Weak points, "hail to the king" "Doing Time". Some of the lyrics were not clever, and at times cheesy, Voice was much better than in some previous attempts.

Avenged Sevenfold shows some creativity in trying to recapture the feel of old school metal and sometimes manages to succeed. Although the attempt sometimes comes off cheesy, the album is largely enjoyable. Despite the fact that its simplicity causes it to be underwhelming at times, Hail to the King has enough strong tracks to make it more than a worthwhile listen.